A Perfect Day

In the most imperfect, human way.

Can I tell you about the best day I had the other day? (Just a little spoiler: it was the best in the most human, imperfect way.)

Here’s a little play-by-play:

Both girls woke up early (think: between 4 and 5am). But then they both fell back asleep! (Score!) So I got to sleep in a little extra.

We all slowly woke up (think: 7-something—the best time of day to wake up, if you ask me) and gathered in our jammies downstairs. I had already showered the night before, so I was practically ready for the day (is there any better feeling?).

We watched a little show with our toddler.

Josiah made breakfast as I unpacked a grocery delivery I had placed the night before (bless previous-day-me for thinking ahead).

After breakfast, Josiah suggested we go on a walk. He was proud of himself for coming up with this idea because we always forget weekend morning family walks are an option (I know, so simple right?). The temperature was 50-something, slowly rising to a high of 73 later (yeah, the perfection just kept coming).

Greta got to show off her skills on her big-girl bike (it’s actually crazy how good she’s getting), and Edie got a cozy nap with me in the baby carrier. Josiah and I both brought homemade lattes in travel mugs.

We said “hi” to neighbors who were up taking jogs or walking their dogs (there are lots of dogs in our neighborhood).

We spied on the neighbors’ yards to get inspiration for our own. (“Should we do a deck? Or pavers like that? Or rose bushes like that?”) It’s fun to dream together.

Getting outside early gave Josiah a burst of energy and motivation to work on some very-needed yard projects. Greta jumped at the chance to put on her tiny green gardening gloves and work outside with Daddy.

I stayed in and put the baby down for a nap. She slept for about two hours (!!!), so I was able to prep all the food for our neighbors who were coming to dinner for the first time later that evening. I made the best pasta salad recipe ever, which I realized I really don’t make enough because it’s delicious.

Okay, now here’s the start of the more imperfect, human parts:

The yard work Josiah was hoping would be relatively quick took six hours. And it wasn’t his fault. It was a lot of work we’d been putting off for a few weeks. The bummer part was it left me inside to try and finish cleaning the house for our neighbors by myself. I started feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.

But guess what? Instead of my characteristic Passive Aggressiveness™️ and Silent Treatment™️, I took a deep breath and decided to see the truth: that he wasn’t just out there lollygagging, leaving all the hard work up to me (lol, I’m a terrible human sometimes. That’s my first thought?).

The reality was he was out there sweating his a** off, wishing he could just be done already. So instead of going outside and spitting out some snarky remark (usually my specialty, unfortunately), I texted him that I was feeling overwhelmed and gently asked if he’d be done soon.

He came in shortly after and said all the yard projects were done (bless him) and apologized for being out there for so long.

I cheekily asked him if he noticed I didn’t get mad and if he was proud of me, haha. He told me how much better it made him feel that I wasn’t rude about it (he was already exhausted from way more work than he expected—he didn’t need a fight on top of that. I finally had the foresight to see that.).

It’s in these moments of personal growth recently that I’ve learned it’s so much better to protect our relationship than to be bitter or “get even.” (I still mostly choose the wrong thing though. But working on it.)

I also had to apologize to my toddler multiple times for getting irritated and being short with her as I was trying to get some things done.

We had our neighbors over for dinner, and it was so fun getting to know them. Greta loved their kids. They brought her some of their old toys. One of our biggest dreams has been to know our neighbors, so it felt good.

(Also, they brought homemade no-bake cherry cheesecake. I usually don’t eat dairy—but it was well worth it for this.)

But then one of their kids wasn’t feeling well, and then Greta was getting tired and had a minor tantrum. So the night ended a bit abruptly. But both families have little kids, so it felt normal and was no big deal.

All in all, it was a great, very normal, very human, very imperfect day.

Just wanted to share it with you. I’d love to hear a play-by-play of one of your days soon.

When’s the last time you had an imperfectly perfect day? What does your perfect day include? Let me know.🤎

☀️Hoping for another perfect day for me and for you this week,

Sarah